The Erotic Mind-Control Story Archive

Later that evening

China, location unknown

Matthew and his Knights disembarked from the vehicles. Coming straight from the dock, they had been loaded onto three separate Ford SUVs. They had no idea where they were. Madame Li, their hostess, had ordered that they be blindfolded. Though she was certainly impressed by their work, she was rather disappointed that despite all of the security measures she had in place, Crystal and Delilah were still able to find her in a large apartment atop a popular restaurant in Southern Shanghai.

As the blindfolds were removed, however, it was clear that wherever they had gone, it was well away from the city. Before them lay a small palace in a quiet section of countryside, and around them was nothing but grass and farmland.

They were led through the great, red wooden doors. The view that awaited them was spectacular. Very much similar to the palaces of the Forbidden City, this place was exceptionally beautiful as well.

They were led past the large courtyard and down the western side of the palace complex and through a garden that overlooked a large lake. Matthew made a comment at how it sort of resembled the Yihe Yuan, the Summer Palace, in Beijing.

Madame Li laughed, mentioning that the compound was built almost as an exact replica of the Yihe Yuan, only smaller.

They made their way down a long corridor that ran beside the lake, and finally turned into a large stone building that led to a series of stairs that led all the way up to the palace proper. All throughout the building, the Knights didn’t fail to notice the number of cameras and security officers in place. It was clear Madame Li was a person who highly valued her privacy.

Finally they were led to a grand banquet hall, where a large table had been set for their dinner. Madame Li excused herself, wanting to get changed before dinner. She encouraged them to make themselves at home while they waited.

When she returned half-an-hour later, she was wearing an ornate, gold and red Chinese gown with a beautiful jade headdress, and they sat down to dinner.

It was no secret among the Knights exactly what was to be discussed over the dinner table. With their success in protecting Madame Li, all eyes and ears had turned to Matthew for the next step.

“It’s obvious now, that Balthus is behind all this chaos,” Madame Li said, seething as she said his name. “I’ve never liked that buffoon.”

“I’m still a little confused,” Sharon said, “what does all this mean? If Adam Blackwell killed de Vega and it was Devon Zane who attacked you and Vincent in San Carenza, then who is the Soul Collector, Blackwell or Zane?”

Matthew clasped his hands before replying, “Neither one of them were.”

Valeria nodded. “I agree. Before Zane attacked Matthew, he was sent by Jeffries to Africa on a special mission.”

“And whatever happened in Africa, it turned Zane into a monster,” Matthew added. “Remember that Jeffries was after information, or more specifically, information on the real Soul Collector, information which he most likely thought Vincent and I had.”

“Why would he think that?” Delilah asked.

“That’s not important,” Valeria said, “what IS important is that he wants it, and what we need to know is why.”

“Yes,” Matthew added, “and I think I might have an idea.”

They all leaned in.

Matthew continued. “Consider the fact that no one has ever survived an encounter with the Soul Collector. That means that no one REALLY knows what he looks like or what his agenda is or was. That also means that the Soul Collector is a very convenient way of placing the blame of such terrible tragedies…such as Ascended Ones dying, for example, on a mysterious figure who no one ever truly understood. Are you all with me so far?” Matthew asked. Everyone at the table nodded, gesturing for him to continue. “All right, so consider Balthus…ambitious, power-hungry, and evil. I mean let’s face it, every Ascended One is self-serving and evil to some degree, no offense, Madame Li.”

“None taken,” Li replied, shaking her hand and waving it off.

Matthew nodded, “But Balthus takes it to a whole new level. He not only wants to keep the Power he has, but he plots to take the Power of the ENTIRE Order of Kings. How does he do it? He can’t simply take on the entire Order in the open. That’s suicide. He decides to break it apart. And in the history of the Order of Kings, only one individual has ever truly threatened its existence…the Soul Collector. The problem is, the Collector was dealt with in the Medieval Ages, but here’s the clincher: no one knows that for sure, since no one ever found a body. Every Knight sent against him died. So how does he solve the problem?”

“He makes his own Soul Collector…” Sharon said in realization.

“Not just ‘A’ Soul Collector, but Soul Collectorsss…” Valeria pointed out, making an emphasis on the plurality.

“But,” Matthew adds, “the process isn’t perfect, clearly. When I fought Zane he was erratic and all over the place, and the same was true with Blackwell. He had de Vega’s teleportation ability, yet he blindly attacked in predictable lines and patterns. In other words, whenever he makes one of these doppelgangers, their critical thinking ability are sacrificed.”

“Which may explain why he wanted Azrael’s power and came after him first,” Li interjected.

“What do mean, Madame?” Sharon asked.

Madame Li cleared her throat. “Azrael’s abilities allowed him the greatest control over his Vassals. Azrael had the most powerful level of telepathy in the Order of Kings. Only Azazel could possibly be more powerful. But Azrael dedicated most of his time to preserve a dominated human’s personality so perfectly, that he eventually developed what we came to call ‘Counter-telepathy’, which rendered the minds of any he touched immune to the probing of others. Maybe he sought to control the counter-telepathy as a way of balancing out his experiments.”

“Which meant that he could held retain much of a subject’s intelligence and reasoning ability as opposed to destroying it completely when overwhelmed by another Empowered One’s aura…” Matthew finished for her.

“That’s all well and good,” Angel said. “But that doesn’t change the fact that we still don’t know what to do. And we still don’t know why it is that Theodore double-crossed us.”

“Simple reason, really,” Matthew said, matter-of-factly, “Pandora told him to betray us.”

They all looked at Matthew.

“Are you saying Narisa is working WITH Jeffries?” Sharon asked.

“Is there any other way to see it? Theodore was her Vassal, meaning that he could never act against her. Which means he wasn’t.” They all fell silent. “That’s not all…I think Zarastopheles is in on it as well.”

“WHAT?!” Sharon exclaimed.

“THINK!” Matthew replied. “Jeffries isn’t smart enough to devise a means to create a new ‘Collector’, he’d need someone with real brains. If that’s the case, Gutambo’s our guy.”

“This is loco,” Angel said, shaking her head. “Now we don’t know who to trust, who to go after, who’s on our side, who’s not, I remember a time when the bad guys were bad guys and the good guys were good guys.”

“Not everything is black and white anymore,” Delilah said.

“No,” Magnus said flatly. “Everything is either black or white. The only thing that changes is where people draw the line between them. But Jeffries has crossed it. That much is true. We need to take him down.”

“There is still the tiny matter of Freyaja and Pandragore,” Madame Li reminded them, “or if you prefer, Zerapova and Cunningham. Do we trust them?”

“I don’t know,” Matthew said honestly. “I guess we’ll just have to deal with them when we get to them.”

“So, how do we do this?” Sharon asked.

Matthew paused. “The way I figure it, we have one major advantage.”

“And that is?” Sharon responded, a hint of sarcasm in her voice.

“Well, with Blackwell and Theodore both dead, I don’t think either one of them was able to contact Jeffries. Sharon, have you contacted Gerard with any progress we’ve made?”

“Not since France,” Sharon said.

Matthew nodded in approval. “Let’s keep it that way. I think we can rule out whether we can trust Zerapova and Cunningham or not.”

“How?” Madame Li had her eyebrow raised.

“We ask,” Matthew smiled. “I can use Pandragore’s shapeshifting ability to modulate my voice.”

“There’s no way you could possibly reproduce Blackwell’s screech,” Sharon said skeptically.

“And I’m sure Jeffries would have some way of knowing whether it was really him or not. He keeps a tight leash around his Vassals, usually. He’d have a specific way of contacting Blackwell, and for as long as we don’t know how they did maintain contact, we’re screwed. He’ll assume Blackwell failed once he receives no word from him in a few days,” Valeria added. “I’m sure he’s got a contingency plan ready to go if Blackwell was ever taken out.”

“Thanks for the vote of confidence, you two” Matthew said sarcastically, causing Valeria and Sharon to blush. “But I’ve already thought about that. You’re right. There’s probably only a minute chance I’d be able to pass myself off as Blackwell. Jeffries is too much of a paranoid mother-fucker for us to risk our only advantage…but Narisa Leone isn’t.”

The group smiled. “Theodore…” they said in unison.

“Theodore.” Matthew confirmed. “All I need to do is make a call to Narisa, and we’re back in business.”

Everyone at the dinner table smiled.

As the night grew longer, each of the Knights found their respective times to get up and head for the bedroom. Most of them were tired from the day’s events. Matthew promised he would make the call with all of them there the following morning.

Madame Li requested that he stay for a moment.

As the table emptied, he moved to a seat beside Madame Li.

“My dear boy,” Li said, putting her hand over his, “I must say I’m quite impressed by your capabilities. I must admit, when we decided to Anoint you, I had my doubts. But, from the moment you dazzled me with your elaborate escape from the pig Jeffries’ Alpha Agency to the very moment you sit here before me, you have done nothing but prove yourself a true champion.”

“Thank you, Madame Li.”

She shook her head. “I should be thanking you. Were it not for your selfless dedication to the New Crusade, I very well could have been dead. Had you not uncovered the insidious plot of Balthus and his cronies, that dreadful Blackwell would have made it to China undetected, and he would have surely found me. It would have taken him some time, but he would have eventually found me, and then who knows what could have happened?”

“Madame Li, I—”

“Shush!” Li said sternly. “I’m an old-fashioned woman in many ways, and I think that when you save someone’s life, you ought to do something special for that person, and I intend to, and I won’t take ‘NO’ for an answer.”

Matthew smiled and suppressed a light chuckle. “Very well, Madame. I assume I have no say in the matter.”

She smiled. “None at all, my dear. Tonight, I want you to enjoy my special gift to you, my hero.”

Matthew nodded in mock defeat. “Okay.”

Li smiled. “It is my understanding, my dear boy, that the lovely Crystal Xi who accompanied Delilah to my restaurant this afternoon is in fact, Xi Shi, isn’t that correct?”

Matthew raised an eyebrow. “Yes…” he said slowly, not entirely sure where this was all going. “But—”

“It is also my understanding,” Li interrupted, “that she currently lives with a roommate at a secretly closed off section of Guanwa Palace, and that her roommate’s name is Sandra Wang, which is another alias, for Wang Zhaojin?”

“Again, yes…” Matthew answered.

Li smiled. “You see, Mister Freeman, I may not control what happens in world events as I once did. In those times, the world was much smaller, and much of it was Ancient China. But I have maintained much control over this small parcel of Asia, and I make it a point to know everything that goes on here.”

“Okay,” Matthew said, not knowing if he liked where this was all going.

“Relax, Sir Freeman. I only meant to say that having two of the famous Four Beauties is a marvelous blessing.”

“Thank you.”

“But—” Li said, smiling widely, “—owning only half the collection is certainly not as marvelous as owning the whole set. Wouldn’t you agree?”

Before Matthew could answer, Crystal and Sandra came out, dressed in marvelously designed silk dresses. Crystal wore a beautiful blue one while Sandra was wrapped in magnificent red. “I had my people pick up Sandra at Guanwa Palace,” Madame Li explained. “She was reluctant to come, until they told her that all this was for you.”

Crystal and Sandra bowed to Matthew.

“Now, my gift to you, my dear boy,” Madame Li said, her smile never abating, “Diaochan, who now uses the name Daisy Chan, and Yang Guifei, who now goes by Ginger Yang…the other two of the Four Great Beauties.”

Music started to play and soon an incredibly beautiful Chinese woman with a white dress came, followed by another in a sapphire green dress. They took positions beside Crystal and Sandra. All wore elaborate headdresses, much as they would have many years ago.

“Sir Freeman,” Madame Li whispered into his ear, “I would like to congratulate you on a most exquisite, and complete, collection of beauties.” She turned to them and gave a nod.

Crystal sauntered over to Matthew and took his hand. She guided him off the chair and onto a nearby couch, where Matthew sat.

A smile crept across Matthew’s face as he looked upon the four beautiful Chinese women kneeling before him. Sandra and Crystal made short work of his belt and pants, and soon his boxer shorts were off as well, leaving him in his black polo shirt and coat. His ten-inch monster sprang free, and it wasn’t long before the Four Beauties were all over his member, devouring his cock like they hadn’t eaten in days.

Crystal, with her demure and soft features sucked the tip of his throbbing member with expert skill. Sandra’s more angular face and thicker lips took care of his balls, as she lapped at them happily. Ginger, a classically beautiful Chinese woman with a rounder face than Sandra’s took care of the right side of his shaft, while the incredibly beautiful Daisy Chan, who Matthew had to admit was the prettiest of the four and could have possibly pulled off as a double for Zhang Ziyi, took the left. Both Ginger and Daisy had to clamber onto the couch on either side of Matthew to get a good angel on his cock.

“I do hope you enjoy my gift to you, dear,” Madame Li said as she watched from the dining table.

“Very much so, Madame,” Matthew said, not taking his eyes off of the four Asian women sucking, licking and lapping at his cock.

“Excellent!” Li said, “now if you’ll excuse me…”

Madame Li stood and left the room, allowing Matthew time to his new acquisitions. He wasted little time in enjoying them, as he pulled Ginger up and over him, tearing her dress apart and impaling her on his rock hard cock. As Ginger pumped up and down, he told Sandra to “Taste her.” Sandra immediately complied, kneeling down and placing her face in just the right position to lick his shaft and Ginger’s pussy and ass.

Crystal came around to the other side and straddled Matthew’s right arm, grinding her hips against it as Matthew kissed her firmly on the lips. Daisy ripped her own dress open and swung one foot over Matthew facing him, presenting her ass to Ginger, who subsequently buried her face in between Daisy’s ass cheeks.

With amazing flexibility Daisy bent down at the waist, using the backrest for support, low enough to present her juicy tits to Matthew.

“Please…lick me …” she said.

“Is that how you show respect for your new Master?” Matthew asked, lightly slapping her on the face.

Daisy shuddered in pleasure as she recovered from it. “No.”

Matthew slapped her again. “What?” he asked.

“No, my Master.” Daisy cooed. “Please, Master, please suck my tits.”

“Better,” Matthew said, and proceeded to suck one nipple. He reached up with his right hand and grabbed Crystal’s hair, pulling her face beside his to suck the other.

Matthew then brought up his left hand to Daisy’s pussy, and he shoved two fingers into her. “Oh, ohgod, oh, oh, yes!” Daisy moaned, as Matthew fucked her with his hand. She started to shake, and soon began to scream incoherently. The combination of Ginger’s tongue licking her ass, Matthew’s fingers pumping her pussy, and the oral stimulation of both her tits was too much.

“OH GOD I’M GOING TO CUM!” She screamed.

But before climax could come, Matthew pulled out his fingers and stopped licking her tit, pulling Crystal away to stop her as well. “I haven’t given you permission, slave.”

“Oh, please, please, please, Master,” Daisy pleaded.

“Why?”

“Because Daisy is a slut and needs to cum baaadly…”

Matthew shot a hand back to her pussy, and this time let three fingers into her, pumping into her in a frenzied pace. Daisy’s eyes rolled backwards and the opened her mouth in a soundless scream. Then Matthew whispered, “You will NOT come until I let you, do you understand?”

“Oh please…please Master…” she whimpered.

“Do you understand?” Matthew repeated.

“Oh—yes, yes Master…” Daisy continued to whine and moan. Her body began to shake with pleasure as she continued to fight back her orgasm. But Matthew’s fingers were unrelenting, and Ginger continued to lick her anus non-stop while she fucked Matthew.

“Ahahahahahahahahahah—GOD PLEASE, MASTER!” Daisy screamed, tears running down her face.

Matthew smiled. “Come for me.”

“AAAAAAAAAH!!!” She screamed, falling forwards and embracing Matthew’s head for support. She shuddered violently and her knees buckled as she sprayed a fine mist back into Ginger’s face. Still shaking, she fell to the empty space beside Matthew, panting and shaking in pleasure. “Oooooh, thank you, thank you Master for letting Daisy cum.”

“Good girl,” Matthew said to her. “Now for your reward.”

Matthew grabbed Ginger and started to fuck her frantically. Ginger squealed as he drove his member into her like a piston, eventually culminating in his orgasm. He thrust upward into her in one powerful stroke, sending pulses of pleasure through her body. As she felt her pussy fill with his hot fluid, he stood up, forcing her to grab him for support. Matthew turned and tossed Ginger down onto the bed, his cock popping out of her cum-drenched pussy. “Thank you for fucking Ginger, Master,” Ginger said, drenched in sweat and shaking in orgasm.

He reached down and grabbed Daisy by the hair, pulling her up to him. “Eat my cum out of her pussy, slave.”

“Yes, thank you, Master,” Daisy replied, her pussy still dripping.

Matthew whipped her around so she stood facing away from him, with Ginger laying before her, legs held open by Crystal and Sandra.

Holding her at the hips so she wouldn’t kneel, Matthew pushed Daisy’s head down, forcing her to bend at the waist. Daisy had her eyes closed and had a wide smile on her face as she dove right into Ginger’s pussy, tasting her Master’s cum and savoring it as she proceeded to lick it up.

As she did this Matthew reached forward and grabbed Daisy’s wrists, pulling them up and over her back. Holding both wrists with one hand he spread Daisy’s ass cheeks with the other, and positioned his cock right at the entrance to her asshole. Already lubricated with Ginger’s spit, he smiled as he gave a powerful thrust, plunging right into her ass.

Daisy screamed into Ginger’s pussy, lunging forward and spreading cum all over her face, and at the same time causing Ginger to orgasm and squirt out. A massive wave of pain and pleasure shot right through Daisy, and she hit a powerful orgasm as well, shuddering and shaking. Her legs gave out from under her and she nearly fell, but both Crystal and Sandra, knowing full-well the effects of their Master’s cock, quickly reached out and stabilized Daisy’s knees, locking them in place and preventing them from collapsing.

It took a while for Daisy to recover, but by the time she did Matthew repeated his power thrust, sending his cock drilling through her ass once again, and the effect was much the same.

Over and over he pounded Daisy, as she shook and thrashed about in multiple orgasms that rocked her to the core. Matthew watched as her elaborate headdress, which had pearls and jewels and other such things hanging from them rattled and clattered about as he fucked her and as she trembled in orgasm.

Soon his slow pace increased as he plunged into her again and again. “Yes, yes, yes, thank you, Master. Fuck me, Master. Fuck my ass, Master.” She cried, tears streaming down her face. Where once pain and pleasure had mixed to create a wonderful sensation that ran up her spine and back down, now there was only overwhelming ecstasy.

As he felt himself nearing climax, he pulled on Daisy’s arms, dislodging her face from Ginger’s pussy. He brought her entire body up straight, his cock still embedded in her ass, before whispering into her ear, “Do you want to taste you ass on my cock, slave?”

“Yes, please, Master.”

Matthew responded by grabbing her waist and pulling her up, before driving her down again onto his cock.

“AAAAH!” She screamed at the top of her lungs, as her own orgasm, the most powerful she had ever felt, rampaged through her as she felt her ass pumped full of cum. “oooooh... thank you…” Daisy whimpered, her face drenched in Matthew’s semen and Ginger’s pussy juice.

Matthew raised her off of him, and plopped her down beside the equally cum-drunk Ginger. He presented his member, still hard and covered in cum to her. With half-open eyes Daisy licked his cock lovingly, taking extra care not to waste a single drop of his white goo, lapping at every inch of his wonderful member that had just reamed her ass.

As she dutifully licked him clean, Sandra and Crystal stood on either side of him, grinding their hips against his thighs. Matthew cupped their pussies, causing them to moan. Sticking out both thumbs, he whispered to them, “Fuck yourselves.”

With simultaneous ‘thank you’s’, they each raised a leg and lowered their dripping pussies onto his waiting thumbs, and then they proceeded to bounce up and down, fucking themselves with his hands.

As Crystal and Sandra humped themselves into orgasm, Daisy swallowed everything she had licked up, and cum-drunk and exhausted she collapsed onto the couch beside Ginger.

Matthew smiled. Turning to Crystal and Sandra, he said, “Clean yourselves up. Tomorrow I want you take Daisy and Ginger to Guanwa. Give them rooms, clothes and whatever else they need.”

“Yes, Master,” Crystal and Sandra replied.

Matthew nodded in approval, and without saying another word he headed for his room. Kimberly was waiting, he was sure of it. The smile on his face grew wider. The night was far from over.

The Next Morning

The team assembled after breakfast in the eastern courtyard. Zhao presented Matthew with Theodore’s cellular phone, and it wasn’t long before he found Narisa’s phone number in the phonebook.

Matthew took a deep breath. All eyes were on him.

“Wish me luck,” he said.

Concentrating, he visualized Theodore Sharidi’s image and his voice. Slowly, his shape began to fluctuate. He became more fluid, undulating and swelling and falling. The Knights watched in amazement as Matthew Freeman slowly morphed into Theodore Sharidi. “Well?” Matthew asked.

“Perfect,” Sharon said. “You even sound like him.”

“But your accent is off…” Delilah added.

“Wait, let me try…this, how about this?” Matthew asked, giving himself an Indian accent.

“Too heavy,” Sharon said. “Lay off it a bit.”

“How about this, do I sound more like him now?” Matthew tried again.

“Better.” Angel said. “Much better.”

“Are you ready for this?” Valeria asked.

“Ready as I’ll ever be,” Matthew said.

Madame Li stepped forward. “Remember, Theodore always called Narisa ‘Guru’, and always spoke in a reverent tone to her.”

Matthew nodded. He pushed the CALL button and waited. Narisa picked up after three rings.

“Theodore?” she said over the phone.

Taking a deep breath, Matthew replied. “Yes, Guru,” he said, putting the speaker phone on so the entire team could hear the conversation.

He could hear Narisa take a deep breath of her own. “I’m so glad to hear from you, Theodore. When you hung up yesterday and told me Freeman had found Li I was worried. I was sure Balthus’ animal would try and get to her anyway. What happened?” Narisa asked.

DAMN IT, Matthew thought. He had worried that Theodore had told Narisa about the events that happened yesterday before he was revealed to be a traitor. The entire team visibly reacted, though to their credit, remained silent. The plan had failed. Matthew had intended to tell Narisa that they had no luck in finding Madame Li, and instead ask for instructions as to what to do next in order to reveal Balthus’ next move.

“Theo?” Narisa asked.

Shit. Matthew had to think fast.

“Theo?” She asked again.

Shit.

“Theo, is everything all—”

“There is a problem, Guru…” Matthew blurted out, sounding as desperate as he possibly could without breaking his accent.

“What is it?” Narisa asked.

Matthew could see everyone around him sweating bullets. He answered. “Madame Li is dead, but Matthew killed him right after he took out Madame Li.”

“This is terrible!” Narisa said. Everyone looked at Matthew with baited breaths. “Damn it. What’s your status? What does Matthew plan to do?” she asked.

“I think he suspects that someone within the Order is involved.” Matthew said, hoping she would take the bait.

“Does he know of our involvement?” Narisa asked.

“I do not believe so, Guru. But he suspects others within the Order,” Matthew added.

“Who?”

“Gutambo, Cunningham and Zerapova,” Matthew said, hoping that she would reveal something by mentioning their names.

“My god,” Narisa exclaimed.

“And he’s planning to confront them!” Matthew said, hoping to goad her into making a mistake.

“Well, Cunningham can go into hiding easily, so there’s no way Freeman could possibly reach him once I warn him. Gutambo has to be warned as well. But if he gets to Zerapova and she goes into hiding, that will be a problem for us.”

BINGO.

Matthew smiled. “I’m sorry, Guru they’re coming. What should I do?”

“All right,” Narisa said, “play along for now. Make sure he DOESN’T find Zerapova. Balthus has other resources he can use to track her down at a later date. But you must stall the New Crusade for as long as you can so Cunningham and Gutambo can cover their tracks.” she said.

“It will be as you wish, Guru,” Matthew said, pressing the END button on the phone.

The entire team cheered.

Matthew morphed back into his old self, just in time for Sharon, Kimberly and Angel to run up and hug him.

“That’s all we needed,” Matthew said.

Sharon kissed him on the cheek. “So now we know Jeffries is in league with Gutambo, Leone, and Cunningham.”

Matthew nodded. “And all we have to do is break them one by one.”

They all agreed. “How?” Sharon asked.

“Well, we know one thing for sure,” Matthew said as they listened to him, “they now think that we’re going to Russia and that Theodore is going to stall us there while we look for Zerapova; this means that we have an opportunity to take one of them down...and I say we go after Gutambo.”

“Why him?” Angel asked.

“Because he’s the one who creates these monstrosities, and if we take him out, then that just leaves the traitors to deal with.”

“True, but why not just go after Jeffries? He’s the mastermind. We cut off the head, we stop this thing right here and now,” Sharon suggested.

“No,” Matthew said. “Jeffries is last.”

“Why?” Angel asked.

Matthew looked at Valeria.

Suddenly they all understood.

Valeria did as well, and she smiled, a tear forming in her eye. “It’s all right, Matthew. You don’t need to do this…”

“No, but that’s what I’m going to do,” Matthew said.

“Why can’t you just do to Valeria what you did for Angel?” Sharon asked.

“Because it’s too risky…” Delilah interjected. “Balthus is more powerful than Zaphkiel was, and he dominated Valeria TWICE. There’s no telling what will happen if Matthew decides to transform her into his Vassal. If he’s weakened by it, he may not be able to handle the other traitors.”

“He doesn’t have to…” Valeria started, but Matthew interrupted her.

“Yes, I do,” Matthew said. “You deserve a second chance, and I’m going to give you one. And that’s why Balthus goes last…”

Valeria nodded, tears running down her face as she stepped forward and embraced him. “Thank you, Matthew.”

“You’re welcome,” he said softly. “but you can’t come with us. You’re still Balthus’ Vassal and—”

“I know,” Valeria said. “I’d be a liability. I understand.”

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay, Matthew,” Valeria responded, a wide smile on her face as they parted. “I owe you so much already. Just promise me you’ll be careful.”

“I promise. If it’s any consolation, I know a perfect hiding place for you while you wait for me to settle all this.”

“Oh, where’s that?”

“Riverside, California.”